On Mar 2, 10:38 pm, (Neil Williams)
wrote:
On Sun, 02 Mar 2008 20:05:20 +0000, asdf
wrote:

They can't cope with someone carrying a large object though, because
they can't tell the difference between that and someone trying to
tailgate.

A bicycle won't really fit through the width of the gates.

It will fit though without too much difficulty. The problem is that
you have to put it in front of you and dash through - if the
handlebars swing round or someone steps in front then it all creates a
bit of a mess.


Perhaps it
might be worth leaving your bicycle folded (as indeed I believe you're
meant to) and only unfolding on the other side?

It would be even harder to get through the barriers with it folded.

Unfolding the bicycle on the other side of the barrier would get in
everybody's way. Far better is to unfold (as I do) at the Northern end
of the platform at Euston and then walk down so that you're roughly at
the rear of the people.

And for every journey I make non-folding bicycles are allowed on the
same platform. In the morning at Watford Junction for people
travelling North from platform 8 (same island as platform 9 that I
take south). Arrival at Euston people travelling North on my train.
And on my return I'm usually travelling after 7pm.


But yes, as a regular user of Euston in the morning peak, the barriers
do slow down exit substantially, though when it gets silly the staff
often just open the lot. The situation could perhaps be improved by
having one side of the barriers for in and one side for out, and being
careful in which platforms the trains are diagrammed into to avoid in
or out happening at both sides at once.

Baring the need to get across to the manual gates, I'd think things
would work better if the trains did come in on opposite sides. There
isn't really enough space to allow people from one side to fan out to
all the gates and use them to capacity.

(And on Sunday there was only one exit barrier (plus the manual gate)
working at Watford Junction which was causing problems.

Tim.